I’m back! Actually, not really, but something crazy happened to me a couple weeks ago that I needed to share – an unbelievable coincidence related to a Snarky Mark article that I wrote earlier this year.

In August, when I received the personal postcard from David Sedaris with his candid and somewhat caustic comments that a serious writer would finish the book first, I took his words to heart. He was right. 

To write a book, you have to write every single day for hours (at least four hours a day per Sedaris’ Master Class online writing class), with no excuses, even if the creative juices are not present. 

To make that kind of commitment, it required a sacrifice on my part. I had to give up something that I really enjoyed doing to free up some time, and for me that was ending my three-year volunteer gig at the Craig Hospital pool where I assisted a highly-skilled physical therapist, Ashley.

When you work with someone for three years, you get to know each other a little bit and develop a rapport. Ashley and I became “work” friends, and we had several things in common – similar musical tastes, a passion for sports and a love for travel. 

I always looked forward to my Wednesday morning gig at Craig and was able to witness, firsthand, some absolutely remarkable recoveries by some patients. I was emotionally moved by some of the patients and their fierce determination and perseverance to improve their situation, and I met people that I’ll never forget even if I never see them again.

In September, I informed Ashley of my desire to write a book and that I needed to resign from my volunteering gig to do so. She was surprised but understood. Now here is where it gets wacky.

Three weeks after my departure from Craig Hospital, I received a text from Ashley. 

Paraphrasing her text:

“It’s Wednesday, so I always think that I should check-in and say hi, but especially today. They filled my Wednesday morning volunteer spot that you did for three years. I asked the new volunteer, Christina, what brought her to Craig. She said that she was looking for a new volunteering opportunity and had read this article in her neighborhood newsletter about the Craig Hospital pool.

“I, of course, asked if she lived in Lowry, and she said yes. Then I asked her was that by chance an article by Snarky Mark, and she said why yes, indeed, it was.”   

I knew that Craig wouldn’t have trouble finding my replacement, because the pool is the best volunteer gig in the hospital, but the fact that my replacement was filled by a LUN Newsletter reader just blew me away. I never imagined that my article in the newsletter would influence someone to volunteer at Craig – let alone that this person would be my replacement – but I’m sure glad that it did.

Christina – thank you for volunteering at Craig Hospital. I hope that you find as much enjoyment and satisfaction in the volunteer gig as I did.

As for the book, I have been writing every single day for two to eight hours. The first couple weeks of writing, I had nothing. The words that I put down were crap, but you have to keep pushing and persevere just as Sedaris said in his Master Class podcast – so that’s what I did.

Then, I hit a creative wave that I’ve never experienced before, and the ideas and words flowed freely from my brain for six weeks straight. It was crazy. Writing every day for hours didn’t feel like a chore; it was actually fun.

I’ve written 17 stories (150 pages total) –  a few of the stories are modified versions of the better LUN Snarky Mark articles – but most of the stories are brand new material. I’ve allowed my wife, kids and two friends to read a couple articles for constructive criticism, but I’m keeping it tightly guarded. 

I feel like I legitimately have material that is publishable and that readers would find very entertaining, but my opinion doesn’t count. I’m in the process of sending a manuscript to a couple publishers for their assessment, and then I’ll go from there. I’ll keep you posted.

Cheers and see you in the ‘hood.